Mechanical ventilation of the lungs of humans and animals is well-known. Such ventilation often involves the introduction of an endotracheal tube into the trachea of an animal, for example, a human.
One problem often encountered with the use of endotracheal tubes is the accumulation of mucus on the inside wall of the endotracheal tube. Several conventional approaches have been employed to address the mucus accumulation problem for endotracheal tubes. One approach is to remove the mucus-laden endotracheal tube from the patient's trachea and replace it with a clean endotracheal tube. Such a procedure can be very uncomfortable for the patient, especially since ventilation must be interrupted during the process. Additionally, frequent reinsertion of a clean endotracheal tube can eventually lead to tracheal injury.
Another conventional approach introduces salt water into the endotracheal tube to dissolve the mucus. The dissolved mucus deposits are then vacuumed with a suction catheter. This approach can be agonizingly long for patients, and it tends to miss a number of the accumulated mucus deposits, thereby leaving them as a breeding ground for infectious bacteria.
Some conventional cleaning apparatuses are also used for cleaning an endotracheal tube (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,709,691; 6,082,361; 6,318,368, 6,494,208 and 6,679,262 and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0172971, the disclosures of which are all incorporated by reference herein.). When these devices are used to clean an endotracheal tube and subsequently withdrawn from the tube, the removed mucus is exposed on the apparatus and must be removed, for example, via a napkin, by the physician or other practitioner.
It may be desirable to provide an endotracheal tube cleaning device that can isolate the removed mucus and facilitate easy disposal.